Veteran actor Shilpa Tulaskar is thankful to Rajshri Productions and Star Plus, the creative team for giving her a realistic character in Dadi Amma Dadi Amma Maan Jaao.
Says Shilpa, “Till now I was stereotyped as a positive mother, but here Rekha is someone who wants the best for her family and for that she might bend the rules here and there. But she is justified in her actions. Agreed she does go wrong, but that is what makes her human.”
“I am glad Producer Sooraj ji saw this side of me. In my 28-year-old acting career, I had got just one more greyish character offer, but then the channel was not ready to visualize me in any other light. The fact is that this character is so well-etched out, that it becomes easier for me to immerse myself in her,” she adds.
“It is indeed a challenge to walk the thin ice, e.g., when my character slaps her wannabe actor son for he injures his face. She is not wrong, for an actor, his face is his USP, and here she is ready to sell her family jewels to get him a chance in films.”
“I am thrilled that my character was not required to have all the OTT mannerisms (high eyebrows, biting lips, and grinding teeth), which vamps typically have to exhibit. She has to appear the very normal woman, who wants to go up the social ladder.”
Shilpa, who was part of the golden era of TV (Teacher and Shanti) is not very anxious about the current saas-bahu and dayan chudail zone. “Change is the only constant. The only way forward would be is to try to get the best deal for yourself, and this what I have always done.”
None of my mother characters are just beta kha lo (son eat something). They always have something to offer, i.e. I played influential Jijabai in Veer Shivaji and Parvati’s mother in Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev. While last but not least, my character Sujata in Jaana Na Dil Se Door (Star Plus) played an essential role in the lead (Vikram Singh Chauhan’s) life.”
“The best thing is that finally, we are coming to a time where we are ready to accept that mothers too can be negative (let me repeat my character here is not bad). So I am hopeful that down the road, I will be given equally strong personalities, be it, antagonists and protagonists. My only deal is that whatever I do should be justified for let’s face it, the world is not sugar-coated and you will bump into good and bad people.”
Ask her about the lacklustre ratings of Dadi Amma Dadi Amma Maan Jaao, and she says, “As actor numbers are not our concern, we have to put in our best, period.”
Best of luck, Shilpa!!